Shloka 30
अध्याय १५९ — रात्रौ श्रमविरामः
Night Exhaustion and Brief Pause in Battle
यौधेयान् मालवान् राजन् मद्रकाणां गणान् युधि । प्राहिणोन्मृत्युलोकाय शूरान् बाणैर्युधिष्ठिर:,राजन! युधिष्ठिरने अपने बाणोंसे यौधेय, मालव तथा शूरवीर मद्रकगणोंको मृत्युके लोकमें भेज दिया
sañjaya uvāca | yaudheyān mālavān rājan madrakāṇāṃ gaṇān yudhi | prāhiṇon mṛtyulokāya śūrān bāṇair yudhiṣṭhiraḥ ||
Sañjaya said: O King, in the thick of battle Yudhiṣṭhira, with his arrows, dispatched the valiant Yaudheyas, the Mālavas, and the companies of the Madrakas to the realm of Death—an act of grim necessity within the righteous yet devastating course of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a dharma-minded king like Yudhiṣṭhira must sometimes perform harsh kṣatriya-duty in war; the verse underscores the tragic tension between righteousness and the unavoidable destruction inherent in battle.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Yudhiṣṭhira, fighting on the battlefield, struck down groups of warriors—Yaudheyas, Mālavas, and Madraka troops—sending them to death with his arrows.